Wilfred Knowles enlisted in the Worcesters and joined the 1st Battalion. They fought through the 1916 Battle of the Somme and in the Spring of 1917 followed up the German retreat to the Hindenburg Line. They took part in the difficult first day of the Third Battle of Ypres and in the 16th August attack at Westhoek. Two months were then spent in a quieter sector at Ploegsteert Wood. They returned to the front line at the shattered village of Passchendaele on the 19-20th November, where Private Wilfred Knowles was seriously wounded. He was taken to a Casualty Clearing Station where he died on the 22nd November.